How Can You Get the Most from Your ISO 9001:2008 Certification?
Lots of individuals believe that the ISO 9001 certification is just an exercise that puts documents together to show an\the auditor in order to obtain the certification. This is a common misconception. Based on those who have worked with ISO for lots of years, the ISO standard before focused less on the outcome and needed too many documents. This is the reason why a lot of managers and business owners believe that this was not beneficial to their company and that this was simply a part of the operating cost. - ISO9000
More current revisions of the standard have restructured the need to focus more on improving business processes and focus less on putting documents in place for the benefit of the auditor. Due to these revisions, clients, shareholders, top management and workers of certified businesses see the positive outcome of their achievements. This new "Process Approach" is a sensible way to align improvement efforts throughout the business with real business and customer requirements.
Ever since 2000, we have helped lots of companies attain ISO 9001 certification each year. To attain great results from the investment, there are three basic guidelines implemented by our consultants:
The most common "mistake" we have seen businesses make in implementing ISO for the first time is to make it too complicated. This error can result in unnecessary procedures, records and job training. The reason behind this is commonly because of the implementers of the system taking a "better to be safe than sorry" approach because they don't really know what the auditors would look for during the audit. All this does is (inadvertently) increase the present cost of the ISO certification without adding value to the business.
Instead, a conscious effort must be made to keep documentation to a minimum and focus on implementing those specially required by the company or required by the standard.
The next guideline for implementation is to focus on improving the company's procedures in order to improve performance for the customers and the business. Make certain that you implement everything to support the company's operations and the requirements of the customers. Businesses could modify their QMS to specifically meet their needs and still comply with the intention of the certification because the ISO standard use general language.
You should first find out if a specific requirement you are working with is helping your business.
The third guideline is based on an understanding that the worst reason to implement something is just to show it to an auditor. If an ISO requirement is being talked about during your implementation and a comment is made like "I have no idea why we are implementing this but we have to do it to satisfy the auditor", then return to rules one and two above. In order to meet ISO requirement, a flexible system should be developed and implemented to suit and add value to your company. You must concentrate on adding value to your company and simplifying your ISO procedures and documents. Doing the aforementioned guideline will certainly please your auditor. - ISO9000